http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jul20 ... -j20.shtml
Three weeks shy of his first anniversary in power, Peruvian President, Alan Garcia is facing nationwide mass protests against his political and economic program. Culminating in a two-day protest on July 11-12, millions of Peruvians including industrials workers, miners, coca growers, high school teachers, students and small merchants went on strike, organized marches, occupied public buildings and blockaded roads leading to all major cities.
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What is significant about the uprising in the southern and eastern regions is that they are being led by grass-roots organizations, representing the population.
In the southern region
* In Apurimac the marches were led by the Confederacion de Productores Agropecuarios de las Cuencas Cocaleras del Peru and had the support of many rank-and-file organizations representing all sectors of the population.
* Public transport, banks, businesses, schools and the main food market all remained closed. In the city of Abancay, a 12-year-old girl died after being hit by a stone during a confrontation between school teachers and the national police.
* In Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas, over 10,000 people poured into the streets, and the Federacion Departamental de Trabajadores del Cusco is considering calling an indefinite strike.
* In Puno, nearly 5,000 people led by the teachers union SUTEP and the Communist Party-led Confederacion General de Trabajadores del Peru (CGTP) occupied the airport runway in Juliaca. The army intervened to clear the airport.
Protesters also blockaded the highways. Located barely 40 km from Lake Titicaca, Juliaca is a major transportation hub and vital for trade between Peru and Bolivia. Local and regional authorities, as well as public and private institutions backed the struggle in Puno.
* In the second largest Peruvian city, Arequipa, there was no public transportation, and marches from the poor neighborhoods culminated in the Plaza de Armas, the city’s main square, with the participation of SUTEP, construction workers, students and teachers of Universidad Nacional de San Agustin.
In particular, the arequipeños were protesting against new taxes that increased the price of gasoline, and to demand the implementation of promised infrastructure projects like the Transoceanic Highway and the Majes Sihuas II irrigation project.
* In Tacna, the southernmost city and a trading post with Chile, the strike was backed by the region’s president who described it as a genuine popular expression against “the exploitation in the mines and the neo-liberal policies of the government.”
Nationwide Protests Over Neoliberal Policies Rock Peru
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/821/1/
Peasant leader killed as protests paralyse Peru
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international ... 33,00.html
Investors say the president, now styled as a mellowed, mature pragmatist, has delivered stability and prosperity. Economic growth surged to 8% last year on the back of low inflation, fiscal discipline and robust investment. The IMF praised the turnaround and business leaders said the stage was set for an Andean renaissance.
However the half of Peru's 27m-strong population that lives on less than a dollar a day has lost patience because shortages of food, clean water and electricity have not eased. Mr Garcia's approval ratings have tumbled.
PERU: Escalating Conflicts Put Pres. García on the Spot
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38521
The workers are demanding that the government enforce labour laws, eliminate outsourcing of services, tax high mining profits, revise the free trade agreement with the United States, and give workers the freedom to opt out of the private pensions system, among other actions promised by García during his electoral campaign.
With the first anniversary of his term of office only 16 days away, thousands of Peruvians are calling García to account. Workers and social organisations crowded the streets and plazas of Lima on Wednesday, while strong protests also took place in the southern regions of Cusco, Arequipa, Puno, Tacna and Moquegua.[
At least four million out of the country's seven million campesinos (peasant farmers) stopped work Wednesday and Thursday and set up roadblocks on highways, mainly in the central and southern Andean regions, the president of the National Agrarian Confederation (CNA), Antolín Huáscar, told IPS.